


Love, Luck, and Potions

by WeirdFangirlingPersona



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Amortentia, Confident Remus Lupin, Felix Felicis, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, Get Together, Hogwarts Era, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Potions Accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27899272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeirdFangirlingPersona/pseuds/WeirdFangirlingPersona
Summary: Remus accidentally drinks badly made Amortentia and is forced to love himself, have working self-esteem and confidence for a day.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 20
Kudos: 173





	Love, Luck, and Potions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kattlupin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kattlupin/gifts).



> The happiest of birthdays to you, my dear Katt! You're such a sweet, encouraging, wonderful person, who brought a ton of joy into my life. Thank you for that. And for beta reading my fics (none of them would probably see the light of the day otherwise.) I hope this little thing will put a smile on your face just as your writing always does to me. 
> 
> And a big thank you goes to Kate for her amazing beta help with this one <3

“Could you help me with something, please?” says Remus’ voice from somewhere above him. 

Sirius lifts up his head from the book he buried his face in a vain attempt of tricking himself into doing homework and looks at Remus. Something seems off about him. 

“Yeah, sure. What is it?” he jumps up from the couch he was sprawling on, the book already forgotten. With the height difference back to normal and Sirius’ natural eye-level on Remus’s forehead and curls, he’s sure Remus looks the same as ever. But then he smiles bashfully and tugs a stray curl behind his ear with his sweater paw and Sirius isn’t so sure anymore.

“I need you to tutor me in Potions. Slughorn said I really need to improve if I want to pass the class. I already gave up NEWTs Potions so I just need to make one plausible potion from the advanced chapters and not three like the NEWTs class. I was trying to practise on my own but it never turned out the way it’s supposed to and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

Ah, Remus is probably nervous because he hates asking for help, that must be it. It’s silly, really, because Potions are literally the only subject Sirius is naturally better at. But...he doesn’t look nervous at all. He’s standing straight and keeping direct eye contact and all. _Strange_ , Sirius muses.

“Yeah, sure I’ll be happy to help.” He adds in his head, _Anything to spend more time with you._

Remus’ face splits into a wide grin. “Excellent!” he exclaims, takes Sirius’ hand and starts leading him out of the Common Room. 

Sirius, completely bewildered, decides to not question it further and revels in the feeling of Remus’ warm hand against his own instead. It’s been so long since they held hands like this, probably when they were still kids in second year or something. They stopped doing it when they started growing up and got scared of other people thinking there’s something more than friendship behind it. Only later did Sirius realise it might be true. For him at least...

This feels different from their child version of it though. More intimate. Remus is holding him tight and not letting go no matter how many stairs they climb or corners they turn. 

He stops in front of a random unused classroom and takes Sirius inside. Before he lets go of his hand, Sirius squeezes it, in reassurance but also as an offering. _If you want to hold my hand like this again, I’m here._

The classroom is dimly lit by several candles with two desks pushed together in the middle and a giant mess of potion ingredients littered everywhere around a steaming cauldron standing way too close to one of the desk’s ends for Sirius’ comfort.

“Wow.” Sirius takes in the whole scene and turns questioningly at Remus. He just smiles at him angelically with a glint of something in his eyes Sirius can’t quite decipher. He decides to ignore it and rather walks towards the desk, moves the cauldron further from the edge and extinguishes the fire underneath with a wave of his wand. Much better. 

“Okay, what are we making?” 

“Felix Felicis,” Remus tells him simply. 

“Oooh, why that one? Need the extra luck for something, Moony?” Sirius winks. And he nearly gawks when Remus not only doesn’t avert his eyes as usual but lifts his chin, arches his eyebrow and smirks mysteriously in response, “Maybe”. 

He slowly, no, _sensually_ walks to join Sirius at the desk and stops a step closer to Sirius than is normal for him. Sirius could count all of his freckles if he stared at his face long enough. It’s late autumn so most of them have faded in the absence of strong summer sunshine as they do every year. The candlelight makes them even lighter, some of them nearly invisible and Sirius yearns to trace their shapes with his fingertips and catch them before they disappear almost entirely for winter. He could get lost in their maze with only Remus’ voice able to guide him out.

“...should have all we need.” 

Sirius blinks several times and looks at the recipe Remus is handing him to clear his head. Right. Focus. 

“Okay. First, we absolutely need a clean cauldron."

Remus nods and goes to fetch a new one from the cabinet at the other side of the classroom. 

Sirius stares after him. That's it! How has he not noticed? Remus walks differently! 

He holds his head high, his shoulders are back, chest open. It's indescribably captivating. He walks around like he's owning the place, like he has a purpose and nothing can stop him from reaching it. He makes long assured strides and oh Merlin, does his ass look amazing like this. 

"Sirius, my eyes are up here," he smirks when he brushes Sirius' shoulder on his way back. Sirius tries to stammer out an apology but it doesn't look like Remus minds.

"We're starting with Ashwinder egg, right?" He asks as he clears some space on the desk, puts the clear cauldron next to his cutting board and stands right in front of Sirius again.

Sirius clears his throat. "Yes. Crack it right in. Then add horseradish and start a low heat." 

As Remus gets to work and focuses his attention on something else than him, Sirius breathes out slowly. Is it getting hot in here?

"Done. Now it's the squill bulb juice and vigorous stir, right?"

"Yes, that's what gives the potion its smooth texture," Sirius adds distractedly as the gorgeous hazelnut eyes lock on him again. 

They have the colour of earth after it rains. They're the warm feeling of curling up by the fireplace after coming home from the piercing cold. They're deep and lovely and they hide so many more shades and colours waiting to be discovered just at the barest change in light. Sirius could drown in them. They're so hard to turn away from.

"I usually have trouble getting it all out, maybe you could…"

Sirius is nodding before Remus even has a chance to finish the sentence.

"...show me how to squeeze it properly?"

Sirius blinks. "Sure," he says after a second too long pause and extends his hand.

Remus ignores his outstretched arm and comes even closer. The tips of their shoes are touching, and Sirius' heart is beating loudly in his chest as Remus raises himself on his tiptoes and whispers dangerously close to Sirius' mouth, "But how will I learn anything if you do it for me?"

The air in the room is suddenly stifling and Sirius feels lightheaded. 

He curls his hand around Remus' hand that is holding the squill bulb, gently moves it above the simmering cauldron and squeezes. The plant must have been overripe because it immediately bursts and coats both of their hands in its thick juices. 

Sirius, remembering the instructions quickly lets go of Remus' hand, purposefully avoids his eyes and starts stirring the potion vigorously with the nearest object, which thank Merlin turns out to be a metal spoon.

Meanwhile, Remus cleaned his hand with a cloth and is looking at Sirius with a light smile. 

"May I?"

When Sirius doesn't answer and just stares dumbly at him, Remus laughs and it sounds like Christmas carols. 

He slowly takes Sirius' wet hand and starts cleaning it with care. As he takes every single finger in the cloth and circles his palm around it to thoroughly dry it, he looks up at Sirius from under his lashes.

Sirius' breathing picks up. His heartbeat threatens to outrun his rapidly raising arousal and he's starting to lose any remaining focus. How has this innocent activity any right to be the most erotic experience of his up to now life? 

As he stares at Remus' fluttering lashes, he quickly corrects himself. There's absolutely nothing innocent about Remus today. Or maybe ever. But especially today. He's excited to see more.

He lets Remus finish up the cleaning, checks the cauldron and when he sees everything is bubbling up smoothly just as it's supposed to, he turns back to Remus.

"Now we chop up the anemone-like growth from the back of Murtlap."

Remus nods and gets it ready on the cutting board. As he starts cutting through it, Sirius comes up behind him, just slightly touching his chest to Remus' back and puts his right hand on the knife handle to stop Remus from completely smashing it. 

"No need to make a mush out of it. You need thin, even slices. Like this," he breathes in Remus' ear and is rewarded with a sharp intake of breath. 

He can smell Remus' cologne like this, the slightly citrus scent only adding to the already intoxicating aroma of Remus's skin. Sirius tries not to get too drunk on it.

He once again curls his hand around Remus' and guides the knife with their both hands to chop up nice and even pieces. Then scrapes it into the mixture.

Remus back is now firmly pressed against Sirius' and his chest is rising faster. He swallows, turns his head just so it's resting on Sirius' shoulder and looks at him with the same glint he did when they came here. 

"This is awesome! It's already looking better than when I was trying!"

Sirius is out of breath again. With Remus' warm body pressed against his and the magnificent smile and eyes focused solely on him, he feels ready to burst. Just as he's about to snake one arm around Remus' waist to hold him closer, he dances out of reach to look at the recipe. 

"Okay, so now I add the tincture of thyme," Remus reads and starts uncorking the little vial. He drops a dash of the liquid into the cauldron and watches it swirl and turn sickly green. "Uhhh, should it be doing that?"

Sirius tears his eyes away from Remus and peers at the potion. When he sees the colour he quickly takes the spoon and starts mixing it. "Don't forget to stir, Moony," he says softly and hands the spoon to Remus, who automatically takes it with Sirius' hand still around it and resumes his place in front of his chest. As the potion turns back to its more neutral colour, he turns and smiles radiantly.

They continue like this for the next few steps, intense eye contact, seemingly random hand touches and brushing against each other. Sirius nearly gets a heart attack when Remus undones the first few buttons on his shirt and loosens his tie. He blames it on the rising temperature. 

Later, Sirius' breath catches in his throat when Remus, once again standing with his back resting on Sirius' chest (it seems to be his favourite place), presses the rest of his body against him too.

He nearly drops the pestle he's grinding Occamy eggshells with when he feels Remus' ass slowly starting to press against his groin too. 

They're so close to each other, Remus must have heard the hitch in Sirius' breathing. He smirks and resumes grinding the shells in the mortar with Sirius's hand still around his.

Sirius' skin is on fire, his body buzzing with tension but just like last time, as soon as he gathers up enough courage to hold Remus closer or maybe even respond with his pelvis, Remus moves away.

Sirius watches him as he stirs the potion slowly and turns the heat up under the cauldron. Sirius feels a certain sympathy with the fire - after all, he too seems to flare up at Remus' single arm wave.

As he silently hands Remus the little box with powdered common rue, their fingers brush, and Sirius continues watching Remus’ hand move gracefully as he adds an expertly measured sprinkle into the bubbling emulsion.

The air has only become more sultry and the few strands of hair that escaped from Sirius' bun are curling up in the humid room. He's breathing hard and feels hot all over but he doubts that has anything to do with the potion making. 

Remus lifts his eyes up from the potion and locks them on Sirius through the white steam that is coming from the cauldron. They both know what's coming next.

One last step.

The incantation. Some consider it the hardest step, but the truth is you just have to speak very clearly and have a precise hand. It can easily go wrong otherwise.

"Wanna do it with me?" Remus asks quietly.

Sirius would love nothing more than to press his body into Remus' and hold his hand again. The feeling of being able to witness how Remus' skin feels when magic pulses in his veins and he channels it through his wand is something rare and special he knows he would treasure forever. But this isn’t about him - this is about helping Remus learn.

"Nah. You can do it. I believe in you," he smiles encouragingly. 

Remus nods and raises his wand. He waves it with a sure hand in a perfect figure of eight directly above the mixture and with a steady voice he declares, "Felixempra!"

Once the cloud of smoke from the spell clears, they both lean to look. The potion is the colour of molten gold, and large drops leap like goldfish from its surface, never spilling. 

It's perfect.

Remus is the first to react. He squeals with delights and throws his arms around Sirius' neck. 

Sirius doesn't hesitate this time. He engulfs Remus in a fierce hug and spins him around. His heart is leaping up from pure joy.

Remus' head fits perfectly in the crook of his neck and his laughter feels hot on Sirius' skin. He never wants to let him go.

When he puts Remus back on the ground, he doesn't put his arms down from his waist. 

Remus stays in place too. 

Chest to chest, both with ragged breathing and with Remus' nimble fingers sneaking to tangle in Sirius' hair at the nape of his neck, they're both grinning at each other in ecstasy, hardly able to contain their happiness.

It's the glint of mischief in his eyes and the slightly higher, raised corner of Remus' mouth that make Sirius crack. He leans down but Remus already meets him halfway in a hungry kiss. 

Remus' lips taste sweet and smooth but it's the gentle scratch of nails on the back of his neck that undo Sirius. He moans into Remus' mouth and pushes with his whole body. When he backs him into the desk, Remus gasps and their lips separate. 

Sirius focuses his heated gaze onto Remus and doesn't drop it as he slowly bends to caress the backs of Remus' thighs and hoists him up on the desk. Then he slots himself between his legs, takes Remus's face in his hands and continues kissing him passionately. 

They make out like the other is oxygen they desperately need for survival, until Sirius’ senses register something strange. 

He stops kissing Remus abruptly and looks around. He sniffs.

"What are you doing?" Remus giggles.

Sirius sniffs again and looks behind Remus into the cauldron they pushed aside when they came here. It's strange really but he swears he can smell a strong Remus-y scent coming out of it. It has the aroma of clean parchment but it also reminds Sirius of the way the forest smells on a sunny afternoon and…and...his shampoo?

Sirius immediately recognizes it and quickly steps away from Remus, who looks at him with a perplexed expression.

"What's the matter?" 

Sirius can't tear his eyes from the cauldron. 

"Remus…What is this? What were you making before you dragged me here?"

Remus jumps down from the desk and starts slowly walking towards Sirius like he's a frightened animal.

"The same thing, Felix Felicis. I told you that," he answers confusedly.

"No. It can't be. I know for sure that this is how Amortentia smells to me because I remember it from when we first tried making it with Slughorn last year! Remus, look at it! It even has the mother-of-pearl sheen!"

Has this whole afternoon been a lie? Is he under the influence of Amortentia? Is Remus? Did Sirius just take advantage of him?

Remus takes his hand and squeezes reassuringly. "Pads. I swear to you. It's just the mucked up liquid luck."

"But then how…" that's when it all clicks together for Sirius. He slaps his forehead, "Of course!"

He turns to Remus and asks him worriedly, "Did you make all the mistakes I corrected when you were making that one?"

"Well...yeah. But I didn't know they were mistakes?"

"I know, Moony," he smiles softly. "And what happened when you finished it? Did you add any extra ingredients?"

"It did the _'whoosh'_ and everything but...well...I think a hair or two fell in when I was leaning over it and...uh...well it _whooshed_ again but I thought it was ok?"

"Did it look like liquid gold as Felix Felicis is supposed to?"

Remus hangs his head. "No."

"But you still tried it didn't you?" Sirius demands.

Remus bites his lower lip and shrugs. "Well...yeah. how else was I supposed to find out if it works? I thought a bit of luck couldn't hurt when I was going to ask you out to help me anyway." 

Sirius groans, "Sweet Merlin, Remus! Do you remember nothing from the basic rules of potions making? Never drink anything if you're not hundred and ten percent sure what the potion is and what it does! You could have poisoned yourself!"

"But I didn't."

"No, you only made yourself fall in love with you." 

"What?"

Sirius chuckles. "You accidentally made Amortentia, Remus. I have no idea how you managed that since the instructions are completely different, but you did. And when your hair fell in, you gave it the essence of _you_. If anybody else would drink it, they'd fall madly in love with you. In your case it means...unlimited confidence, I guess." 

Realization dawns on Remus' face. " _Oh_."

"Yes. Oh."

Remus smiles mischievously and loops his arms around Sirius' neck again. "Well, it served a good purpose, didn't it?" 

"You're not mad at me? I feel like I took advantage of you.."

Remus smooths the wrinkle between Sirius' eyebrows with the pad of his thumb. "Nonsense. I've been mad for you for months. This just helped to push me into your apparently waiting arms."

Sirius laughs joyfully and spins Remus in his arms one more time for good measure. The Amortentia will wear off on its own in a couple of hours. In the meantime, it's time to kiss those sweet lips again.

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
